


More Blood Than Expected

by anactualforrealadult



Series: Zuko the single dad wonder [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Childbirth, Family Fluff, I dont know what this is even supposed to be, Izumi is a Good Kid, Menstruation, Single Dad AU, Zuko Deserves Nice Things, Zuko learns about, all the blood talk and stuff, and, and ya know, but its not graphic i promise, he just has a lot of concerns, its 4 am again, no one told him life was gonna be this way, rated t for like mild swearing, whos surprised not me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-05
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25084747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anactualforrealadult/pseuds/anactualforrealadult
Summary: Zuko learns that fatherhood has a lot more blood in it than he thought.  Especially because he has a daughter.
Series: Zuko the single dad wonder [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1786198
Comments: 13
Kudos: 153





	More Blood Than Expected

**Author's Note:**

> This can be read as a stand alone from my other stuff, but it is important to know that Kaskae is the son I made up for Sokka and Suki.

Zuko was not unfamiliar with blood. He didn’t consider himself a squeamish person, especially after everything he had been through in his life so far. Fatherhood had solidified this, he had no problem patching up the occasional scrapes and cuts Izumi sustained over the years, not to mention whatever else having a tiny child brought into his life. But perhaps he was not prepared for how much blood was actually going to be in his life as the father of a daughter.

He first realized this during a trip to the Southern Air temple when Izumi was eight. The whole gang was visiting to celebrate someone’s birthday, he wasn’t quite sure who’s, there were a large number of children running around and he hadn’t spotted his own in a while. He had been relaxing contentedly against Toph when Kya came by complaining about something her brother had done. Katara rolled her eyes when her daughter finally stomped off, unsatisfied with her parents’ lack of concern (“ _Why can’t you make him stop looking at meeee?_ ”).

“Sorry about that, she’s on her cycle. She’s still adjusting to all the hormones, so she’s been on edge about everything.”

Suki turned towards Katara. “She’s started her cycles already? Spirits, I can’t believe how fast they’ve all grown up! Glad I’ve still got years before Sokka and I need to worry about that with the twins.”

Katara nodded, “Toph’s two will probably be next, with Izumi not far behind. I feel old.”

The rest of the group nodded, but Zuko felt like he was missing some information. “What do you mean by cycles? What’s going to happen with Izumi?”

“You know, the girls starting their moon cycles,” Katara waved a hand, as if that explained everything. “Kya started hers a few months ago, but I’m sure Izumi’s got years yet.”

Zuko blushed, “You’re gonna have to be more specific…” He was starting to worry about what kind of fate could be awaiting his young daughter.

Katara, Suki, and Toph’s eyes widened with realization, as Sokka and Aang suddenly looked very awkward and made excuses to wander off towards the kids. Zuko felt like a child again, feeling like he was missing vital information in his lessons, and was going to be shamed by his tutors. He tried to remind himself that these were his friends and they wouldn’t make fun of him the way Azula had, especially as the three girls moved closer to close the circle.

Suki put an arm on his shoulder before speaking, “It makes sense that you wouldn’t know, Azula was young when you left and you didn’t have a close relationship with her anyway. And it’s not like you have a wife who would have brought it up either.”

Toph leaned her head on his shoulder, “And I was a late bloomer, so it wouldn’t have come up while I was living in the palace for a bit after the war.”

“You guys gonna actually explain what we are talking about here?”

Katara cleared her throat, sitting up tall as if she was about to give a formal lecture. “Moon cycles are the colloquial term for menstrual cycles, which are a bodily phenomenon that happens to women starting around the age of twelve or so. The body begins to prepare for the possibility of pregnancy, and each month it has a sort of practice round. Blood thickens around the walls of the uterus, ah, well, the womb that is, but when pregnancy doesn’t occur, the body releases all that blood out of the body.” Zuko felt a little faint. He didn’t want to think about his eight year old becoming pregnant someday, or her body practicing for it.

Katara continued, “The blood flows out of the body for about a week, during which the body releases hormones that can make a woman feel more emotional. We call it a moon cycle because women can usually track when their cycle will begin by watching the moon.”

“A whole week?? Isn’t that painful??” Zuko has even more sure he might faint, he could barely handle Izumi getting the tiniest burns during training, he couldn’t imagine her bleeding from her body for a week straight.

Toph poked his side, sensing he was spiraling. “Eh, not really. I mean at first it’s a bit painful because you’re not used to it, but after a while it’s just more uncomfortable and annoying. You feel kind of gross because your body is being gross, but you just deal with it.”

Katara rolled her eyes, “It’s not gross Toph, it’s a natural bodily function!”

“Actually, I’m going to agree with Toph on this one, it’s super gross.” Suki said, leaning back on her elbows. “But yeah, you do get used to it after a while, you learn coping skills to make you feel less gross.”

Zuko took a deep breath. “So this is going to happen to Izumi when she’s twelve? Do you think she knows about this already?”

Suki shrugged, “Twelve is the average age, but some girls like me and Toph get it older. Unlucky ones get it younger, but not by much. She might know about it if her friends are talking about it already, but you won’t know unless you ask or she brings it up.”

Toph nodded, “Probably a good idea to talk to her about to though, you don’t know what kind of mixed up information kids could be feeding her. If you want, we can talk to her for you.”

“No, I feel like I should tell her myself,” Zuko replied as he shook his head. “I’m her parent, I want to be involved. I want her to be able to talk to me about stuff, even when it’s awkward.”

Katara leaned over to take his hand. “If you ever have questions or want advice with daughter stuff, we will always be here for you, no judgment.”

Zuko smiled, feeling grateful for his friends. The rest of the visit was uneventful (well, as uneventful as it gets with a gaggle of children and the avatar) and it wasn’t until the father and daughter had returned home that the subject was brought up again, surprisingly by Izumi. As Toph suspected, some of her friends had been passing around rumors from their older sisters, and she wanted to set the record straight. Zuko did his best to explain it just as Katara had, very factual so as to not get too emotional and scare his daughter. Izumi seemed relieved, as the information presented appeared to be less terrifying than what she had been previously told. Content with the information received, Izumi did not ask about it again, which made Zuko immensely glad. He needed to do more research before answering any more questions.

\------------

Izumi ended up being one of the unlucky ones. Zuko was in a meeting with the Agricultural council when ten year old Izumi peeked her head in the door and said she needed the Fire Lord for a family emergency. He went with her at once, letting himself be led through the halls to their suite. Before he had a chance to ask about the supposed emergency, he found himself being pulled into a crushing hug the moment the doors shut. Izumi was sobbing into his robes, and he kneeled down to better hold her.

“It…happened,” she managed to choke out between sobs.

“ _What_ happened sweetheart? Something at school?”

Izumi pulled back and shook her head, trying to wipe some her tears away as she did. “I was feeling lightheaded and a little sick, and when I went to the bathroom there was, there was…”

The pieces clicked into place. “There was blood. You’ve started your cycles.”

Izumi’s tears started flowing again and she buried her head into Zuko’s neck. He could feel her nod against him, and pulled her closer.

“I thought I had more time, none of my friends have gotten it yet. I don’t want to be grown up.” Zuko moved to sit properly on the floor, putting Izumi in his lap. They probably looked a little ridiculous right now, but that was the least of his worries.

“I thought you had more time too, but that doesn’t mean you’re a grown up.” Izumi pulled back to give her father a questioning look. He brushed some stray hairs out of her face. “Just because your body is starting to do grown-up things doesn’t mean that you are actually grown up. And even when you are, you’ll still be my little girl. Even when you are a hundred.”

Izumi giggled at that. Zuko gave her a kiss on the forehead before pulling her close again. He had meant what he said, but the whole situation made his heart ache. His daughter was growing up.

\--------------------

Like any teenager, Izumi didn’t always share her feelings with Zuko. He could tell when she was irritated or upset, but never pushed her to share. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel suffocated. When she was fifteen, he noticed that she had been on edge all week, snapping at anyone who so much as looked at her the wrong way. He chalked it up to hormones. She recently had a major growth spurt, all long legs and spindly arms. Maybe she was having her cycle as well. He made sure to extend apologies to anyone who got in Izumi’s way and didn’t deserve her wrath (as well as one to Uncle, Agni knows he had probably been even worse at his daughter’s age).

After a particularly bad day of Izumi’s temper, Zuko was up late reading over documents when there was a soft knock at the door. Izumi quietly slipped in before waiting for a response. She crawled on to the bed and tucked herself into Zuko’s side. He instinctually wrapped an arm around her, rubbing circles into her back with his thumb while he waited for her to speak.

“Can I ask you a weird favor?”

“If you’ve murdered someone, you’re probably better off going to Aunt Toph for help.”

“I’m being serious Dad,” she said, but he could tell she was still amused. She paused. “My hot water bottle is cold, and I don’t want to bother the maids. I’ve pissed them off enough today. My flame control has been terrible all week, and I’m worried about setting the place on fire if I try myself. Could you just…?” She took the hand on her back and slid it down and around so it was on her lower abdomen.

Zuko took the hint and let his hand warm slightly, feeling his daughter relax and melt into his side. She was quiet for a few moments, and he thought that she might have fallen asleep, when her felt her take a shaky breath. He turned to look at her, noticing tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I know I’ve been such a bitch to everyone this week, I’ve just…I can’t…” Zuko tugged her closer as she struggled to find the right words without crying.

“It hurts. _So_ bad. It’s never hurt like this. I want it to stop. I can’t focus on anything, I can barely breathe. It feels like a thousand knives, just stabbing me repeatedly.”

Zuko brought up his other hand to stroke his daughter’s hair. “I’m sorry baby. I wish I could make it go away.” He felt Izumi take another shaky breath. “Maybe we should go to the healers, Aunt Katara always said there could be a bigger problem if it hurts more than usual.”

Izumi shook her head, “I talked to them already. They said it’s probably nothing to worry about unless it hurts even worse next month. Most likely just regular hormones mixing with my growth spurt.”

Her father gave her a sad smile. “Growing up is a bitch. You’ll let me know if it does hurt more right?” She nodded. “Even if it doesn’t, I’m always available to be a human heat pack, you just have to ask.” He could feel her nod again, and then she was quiet for a long time.

He thought she had drifted off when he heard her whisper a soft “thank you”. Placing a tender kiss on the top of her head, he sent a silent prayer to Agni to ease the mind and body of his teenager. Abandoning his reading for the night, Zuko snuffed out his bedside candle, and maneuvered both of them under the covers, keeping his heated hand where she needed it. They both fell asleep like that, huddled together as if Izumi was a small child once again.

\---------------------------

Izumi was twenty-one, and Zuko was thrilled watching the less than subtle relationship bloom between his daughter and his friend’s son. He hoped Kaskae would propose soon, he was more than ready to have the young man officially be part of the family. They were both certainly young, but if the royal officials had their way Izumi would have been married off years ago.

He was so caught up in thoughts of a wedding, he could hardly care when Izumi snapped at one of the nobles during a state dinner. Kaskae didn’t seem to care either, he had two younger sisters after all, and was used to hormonal outbursts. Just another reason why they would be perfect together. Zuko had nearly forgotten about the incident at dinner when Izumi dropped a metaphorical bomb on him later that evening.

“I’m late.”

The pair were working together in the Fire Lord’s office late at night, preparing for an important meeting later that week. Zuko stopped his writing and looked up at Izumi. He didn’t need her to clarify. He knew that she and Kaskae had become more…intimate. He had also had a long talk with Izumi about how important it was for them to make safe choices in order to protect her reputation.

“Are you sure?”

“I mean, I’m sure that I’m late, but I’m not sure about…you know…”

Zuko reminded himself that he should probably remember to breathe. His daughter might be pregnant. His baby might be having a baby.

“I’m scared Dad. What the hell am I supposed to do?” She was shaking a little, with tears threatening to spill. Zuko decided that his own internal crisis would have to wait.

“It’s ok to be scared,” He took her hand from across the table. “We will figure it out together. Just like with everything else.” Izumi smiled sadly. “Not that I think he’ll need extra encouragement, but I’ll start sharpening my dao now in case Kaskae needs help getting down the aisle.”

Izumi laughed, “Please don’t torture him any more than you have to. He’ll probably freak out at first, but I don’t think he’ll have any trouble doing the right thing for the circumstances.”

Zuko came around the table to hug his daughter. “If you don’t have your cycle in the next week, we can go to a discreet healer, just to confirm. I wouldn’t want rumors to spread before we can make a formal announcement of your engagement.”

It never came to that. Izumi caught him for a private moment before dinner a few days later.

“My cycle started this morning,” she whispered with a smile. Zuko felt a large weight lift off his shoulders. He wasn’t ready to run interference with a royal scandal.

Izumi’s face dropped slightly. “Is it…is it bad that I’m actually a little…disappointed?” Zuko hadn’t expected that, but suddenly realized that maybe. Just maybe. He felt the same way. It would have been nice, he thought. Having a new baby around the palace. Getting to see his daughter happy with a family of her own.

“I don’t think it’s bad. It will happen for real someday, when you are ready for it. When both of you are ready.”

Izumi blushed, but her smile returned. “You’ll be the first to know when it does happen.”

Zuko took his daughter’s arm, and they walked to dinner together, the tension of the past few days gone.

\------------------------------

Zuko was sure that if he paced much longer he was going to wear a hole through the carpet. The midwives had told him it could be hours, especially with a first birth. There was no point in him hanging around just outside the door, they would fetch him when the baby had been born. They should have known that there was no way he could possibly do that, not when his daughter was behind that door. He finally sat down next to the door. He had no idea how much time had passed since she had gone in the adjoining room. It had been right after lunch when he finally dragged Izumi out of their meeting and back out to her fretting husband. She was certainly his child, trying to co-lead a meeting on taxes while having contractions every five minutes. He had been keeping track.

The sun had set a long time ago, and Zuko was doing his best to meditate. Ok, he was failing to meditate. It was hard to with the noises he was hearing through the door. He kept reminding himself that this was normal, it wasn’t exactly supposed to be a pleasant experience. Sokka and Aang had told him plenty of stories of their own kids’ births, he had known what to expect going in. Didn’t make it less tortuous.

A bloodcurdling scream broke him out of his thoughts. Before he realized what he was doing, his hands were on the doorknob and he was opening the door to see.

Blood.

So much blood.

More blood than a person should be loosing.

And his daughter, lying on the bed, looking dead.

It was his daughter’s blood.

He ran out of the room (barely registering that his daughter was in fact alive, and was holding something that was crying) and made it into the bathroom just in time to vomit his heart out. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when a hand finally tapped him on the shoulder, snapping him back to reality. His son-in-law was looking down at him, looking a little pale but otherwise smiling.

“You want to try that again? They’ve cleaned her up, and there’s someone who wants to meet you.”

Zuko nodded, and shooed Kaskae out the door so he could try and make himself look presentable. Or at least like someone who didn’t just throw up. After a moment, he headed back towards the room his daughter was in. He took a breath before entering. His daughter was a mother. He was a grandfather. The world was very different than it had been minutes before. He entered, and instead of being greeted by blood, he saw his daughter’s smiling face. There was a small bundle in her arms that she and her husband were locked on, and she barely looked up to acknowledge Zuko’s presence. Zuko sat on the bed next to Izumi, who looked very tired but otherwise alive.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like I just pushed a watermelon out of my body, but you know, not bad otherwise. Do you want to hold your grandson?” Zuko nodded, and he was carefully handed the cloth-covered bundle. He held his grandson as if he was made of glass. It had been a while since he held a baby, and he had been dreaming of holding this child every night for the past nine months. The baby was perfect, soft tufts of dark hair, a tiny nose, and almond shaped eyes. He wondered if the eyes would be amber or ocean blue.

“We named him Iroh, wanted him to have a good family name.” Zuko’s eyes watered, he knew it had been a contender but he wasn’t expecting it to be the final choice.

Kaskae shrugged, “It wasn’t my first choice but it’ll do. I’ll pick the next one.”

Izumi turned sharply to her husband. “Bold of you to assume there will _be_ next time! Tell your _next time_ to the stitches on my _vagina_.” Kaskae put his hands up in surrender and Zuko laughed, trying not to think too hard about why his daughter needed stitches.

He looked back down at his grandson (grandson!) and softly traced the lines on the baby’s face with a single finger. Maybe a little blood was a fair price to pay for new life. And he was going to love the shit out of this new life in his arms.

\---------------------------

Baby number two made an early appearance, during a visit to the South Pole a few years later. Zuko sat dutifully outside the hut, finding it a little easier to concentrate on meditating with the sounds of the nearby party drowning out most of the sounds inside. Sokka drunkenly wandered over from his daughter’s wedding reception to visit Zuko.

“Are you seriously going to sit out here all night? There’s literally a party happening over there.”

Zuko shook his head. “I’m happy where I am Sokka, go enjoy yourself.”

Instead of wandering back, Sokka flopped down on the ground next to his friend. “You see one birth, you’ve seen them all. It’s not exactly an enjoyable experience, even if you aren’t the one doing the birthing.”

“I wasn’t there when Izumi was born.”

Sokka looked up at his friend. “Right. I forgot.”

“It doesn’t change anything, I know she doesn’t care, but…I feel like waiting out here…atones for it a little I guess.”

Sokka nodded solemnly and slowly got back to his feet. “Whatever floats your boat my dude. Let us know when it happens, I’ll have a glass of that good sake waiting for you.”

Zuko thanked him, watching his friend stumble back to the party. Yura was born much later that evening, and true to his word, Sokka brought a whole bottle of sake to the hut to meet their granddaughter.

\----------------------------

The final grandchild was only born a week early, but timed her appearance perfectly with her father’s visit to a neighboring city several hours away. Zuko had resumed his position pacing outside the bedroom door when one of the midwives popped her head out.

“Izumi is asking for you.”

Zuko looked up in surprise. She had never asked him to be present before, but he wasn’t about to question. He followed the midwife and found his daughter also pacing the room, her hands on her back.

“Congratulations, your security clearance has been upgraded.” Even in the midst of labor, his daughter kept her wit. “My stupid husband has been sent for, but at the rate things are going there’s no way he’ll be back in time, the jackass.”

Zuko came to her side, letting her lean on him as she breathed through another contraction.

“You think you can handle the job, or are you going to throw up again like when I had Iroh? Because I have no room for little bitches in my delivery room.”

Zuko laughed and squeezed her hand. “I think I can handle it. I’ll hold you hand and everything, just like when you had vaccinations as a kid.”

“Yeah this is going to be a little different from that, but I like the spirit.”

It was certainly a little different. Zuko had always been proud of his daughter, but now he was simply in awe. Things moved a lot faster than the last two times, and before he knew it, there was a whole baby on Izumi’s chest. He realized that all the newborns he had seen up to that point were not nearly this…uh…fresh? He certainly felt raw emotion pouring out as he heard his granddaughter take her first breaths. This was nothing like when his other grandchildren had been born, or when he held Izumi for the first time. This is what it meant for new life to be brought into the world. It was messy. It was bloody. It wasn’t perfect, but nothing in life was. He didn’t even realize he was sobbing until Izumi lifted a tired hand to wipe away his tears.

Kaskae burst through the door a moment later, breaking Zuko out of his trance. “Did I miss it?! I came as fast as I could!”

“Yeah, I think you missed it, or was the newborn on top of me not obvious enough?” Izumi rolled her eyes but still smiled.

The watertribe man smiled sheepishly, but came to sit next to his wife. He waited until the midwives had properly cleaned off the baby, and then carefully took her in his arms.

“Since you didn’t come up with another girl name, I guess we’re going with my pick, huh?”

“Absolutely not, you lost naming rights by not being here.”

Kaskae looked up in dismay. “How is that fair?! How could I have known?!”

“Doesn’t matter, I’ve decided, and the rules are you don’t get to argue with me after I’ve created an entire human being from scratch. Dad gets to name her.”

Zuko suddenly realized that he was the Dad in question.

“You want me to name her?”

Izumi shrugged, “Sure, I got to pick one, jackass here got to pick one, now it’s your turn. It’s your reward for not throwing up at the sight of blood.” She took the baby from Kaskae’s arms and passed her to Zuko.

Zuko thought for a moment as he stared down at his new granddaughter. It had taken him ages to name Izumi, and he was sure she wasn’t willing to wait as long for the name of her own child.

“Aiko.” The name came to his brain like lightning. “Beloved.”

Izumi smiled, and Zuko could see that even Kaskae seemed to respond well to the name. “Aiko it is then.” She turned to face her husband. “And no talk about how you’ll name the next one, this is the last one.”

“What?!”

“It’s true, I’ve decided. No more babies coming out of this body. I’ve got shit to do. If you want another baby you’ll have to make one yourself.”

Zuko handed his granddaughter to a midwife who was looking to take measurements, and quietly excused himself from the impending argument. It was time to find his other two “beloveds” and inform them of their new baby sister.

**Author's Note:**

> Me, at 3 am: Julie, I'm trying to write a tender father-daughter moment, can I refer to a newborn baby as "fresh" during this?  
> Julie: *doesn't respond because its 3 am*
> 
> Listen folks, you may have noticed a pattern in my writing which is that my best work happens between the hours of 11 pm and 4 am and that's what your gonna get.
> 
> Also! PSA as a person with a uterus! If that shit hurts far more than it’s supposed to! Go to an actual doctor! Don’t wait a year after the ER tells you there’s a cyst in your body! That cyst gonna become two bigass bastards and then you are having semi-emergency surgery! True story folks! But also like endometriosis is a real thing and it’s more common than you think!
> 
> Yura: Inuit for "Beautiful"  
> Aiko: Japanese for "Beloved Child"  
> Y'all know where Iroh came from that's canon babey  
> Kaskae means Chief if anyone didn't read that fic I wrote and was interested


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